India and the U.S. recently signed an Air Services Agreement that would result in more commercial flights, lower fares and stronger economic ties. This means both Indian and American carriers could fly to all destinations in the U.S. and India without much restrictions.

This new pact will replace the 1956 agreement, which though quite liberal, had some restrictions on points of call as well as capacity on certain routes.

The Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel said, “The new pact will have no restrictions on the number of flights, offer flexibility in the number of destinations as well as bilateral code-sharing with domestic carriers.” Designated airlines could operate flights on either or both directions, combine different flight numbers within one aircraft operation and transfer traffic from one of its aircrafts to another.

Norman Y. Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation added, “This bilateral Open Skies agreement between India and the United States will stimulate new passenger and cargo services, new partnerships, innovations and lower prices - to the benefit of our countries, our economies, our businesses and our citizens.” With the new pact, airlines from both countries will be able to provide non-stop flights connecting the two countries, which would result in reduced travel time.

An estimated two million passengers travel between India and the U.S., but none of the current airlines offer non-stop flights.
The Open Skies agreement with the U.S. is also likely to result in direct flights not only to New Delhi or Mumbai but also to other cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Domestic airlines would also be able to expand to other cities in the U.S. besides New York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Currently, Air India flies to these destinations while other carriers such as Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara are planning to fly to U.S. destinations by next year.